What A Difference A Night Makes
by AiLing
Summary: Post season 7 finale. One shot. The night after in the Grey mansion.
1. Chapter 1

**Right- I'm supposed to be writing my Paediatrics blue clerking sheets now, but I just had to write this first. I was inspired by the many post season 7 finale fics on this board and other boards too! I know this has been done to death already, but I really hope you enjoy it! **

**Grey's Anatomy FanFiction – Post Season 7 finale one shot**

**What A Difference A Night Makes**

Ellis Grey's mansion, which was usually crowded and full of noise was uncharacteristically quiet tonight. Tension filled the night air, accompanied by an eerie silence. Even the lights in the hallway and living room were not on. It was like in a scary movie where you can expect creatures to be lurking in the dark.

So much changed in just one night. Derek was missing, Alex was gone, April and Jackson and Lexie were God knows where, maybe in the hospital doing extra on calls. And yet there is a new occupant in the house, baby Zola, who Meredith brought home with her today.

There in the dark, on the sitting room couch alone, Cristina Yang sat very still. She had been sitting in that position for the past few hours, not moving an inch. She felt very numb. It was like every single emotion had left her, and all that remained is her body without a soul. How could Owen kick her out just like that? For the dumb reason that she didn't want to grow his baby in her uterus? It's a woman's right after all, whether she wants to keep a baby or not! This is the freaking 21st Century, and yet women are still being considered as baby making factories- giving their husband babies, without regards to their own well being. This just isn't right. It's not her fault anyways that the damn pills had a 1% failure rate and she just had to be the 1%!

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by this oh so familiar feeling of nausea building up in her gut. It had started about 2 weeks ago, and she simply hated it. It caused her to have to dash to the toilet at the most inconvenient times such as during rounds or while talking to a patient. She managed to reach the downstairs toilet just in time to empty her guts contents out. After she thought she was done, she sat on the cold tile floor by the toilet seat, waiting for the next wave of nausea to hit her. Half an hour later, she walked dejectedly out of the toilet, her stomach empty, her heart still empty, silently cursing Owen Hunt for singlehandedly causing her all this misery.

Zola's wails now pierced through the entire house. 'Oh great' she thought to herself. This was really giving her a migraine. The shrill wails carried on for about 10 minutes before Cristina finally decided that she had enough and stomped up the stairs to sort this out. At this point she was thinking of grabbing a pillow and smothering the infant to stop her cries. Why on earth wasn't Meredith doing anything? She peaked into Meredith's room and found Zola in her crib, still wailing, arms and legs in the air kicking about. But there was no sign of Meredith.

Despite herself, she slowly made her way towards the crib. Zola, as if sensing her presence, wailed even louder and held out her arms towards Cristina as if begging to be held.

'Oh no no no…..I…I don't do babies, ok?' Cristina stuttered nervously at the baby. Funny how such a hardcore surgeon could be so intimidated by babies! 'I know..yes…you're cute and all, but..ermm….I'm sorry I can't hold you , because…I don't do babies!'

Zola suddenly stopped crying and stared and Cristina intently with her big beautiful eyes, as if studying her. 'What? What are you looking at? ' Cristina laughed nervously. Zola again held out her arms towards Cristina as if beckoning to be held by her.

'Fine' Cristina huffed. 'Blame it on my hormones or whatever. Just this once okay?'

She picked Zola up and to her surprise the next minute she was bouncing the toddler up and down.

By the way, where on earth was Meredith?

Almost immediately, her questions was answered when she heard a noise coming from the bathroom. She almost brushed it off as someone taking a shower, until she heard those unusual but familiar sounds coming from the bathroom. The bathroom door was left ajar and she slowly pushed it open to see Meredith leaning forward in the toilet seat.

'So now you're puking your guts out too?' she asked curtly.

'Urghh..' Meredith groaned. 'Why can't you be a little more understanding? I just brought home a baby today, I have no idea to be a mother and now Derek is gone, and I..feel sick and I…'

She suddenly started hyperventilating and tears were rolling down her face.

Cristina grabbed a plastic bag from the bathroom cabinet and sat next to Meredith on the bathroom floor, passing her person the plastic bag.

'Breathe into it, you'll feel better.'

Meredith relaxed almost immediately. Her breaths became regular again, it's almost like Derek is here with her, telling her to breathe.

'You're stressed out aren't you?' Cristina asked in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.

'Yes Cristina' Meredith hiccupped. 'They just asked me to bring Zola back all of a sudden, I'm so not prepared for this! Just now I took half an hour just to change one diaper! And she somehow peed all over me when I changed her, which is amazing, because I thought only baby boys do that!'

When Cristina didn't reply, she went on 'I'm going to be a terrible mother, aren't I? I will turn out to be like my mother.'

Cristina sighed. 'Me too. That's why I scheduled for an abortion. I'm afraid I'll make the worst mother ever. Taking care of babies is just not in my genes.'

' You'll make a good mother' Meredith said suddenly. 'You're hardcore, you want to excel in everything you do. I'm sure you would want to excel in motherhood too.'

'You'll make a good mother too' Cristina replied. 'You're nothing like your mother, Meredith. Com'on let's get up and go to bed. Zola is already asleep, I managed to soothe her somehow.'

'You? Who would've thought?' Meredith teased despite herself.

She suddenly remembered something, it was like a lightbulb suddenly appeared in her head that very instant.

'Wait, I have to do something first'

**The next morning**

The two women were both sleeping soundly Meredith's bed and Zola was sleeping soundly in her crib. The bedroom door creaked open slowly. Derek Sheperd had finally decided that he would gain more and be less miserable by going back to sleep with his wife in their comfy bed, instead of freezing to death under the open sky. The sight that greeted him when he first opened the bedroom door shocked him. There was Cristina sleeping beside Meredith, in his spot on the bed. And when his eyes travelled further, he could see the crib which wasn't there when he left. He slowly walked towards the crib. Sensing his presence, Zola opened her eyes sleepily and babbled at him in her baby language.

'Oh Zola, you're finally here! So sorry Daddy wasn't here when you came back yesterday.' Now Derek felt guilty. No wonder Meredith had called him so many times yesterday. If only he had picked up his phone.

After a diaper change, miraculously without waking the two sleeping women up, Derek walked into the bathroom. The first thing that caught his eye was a white stick, unmistakably a pregnancy test. And it was positive. And something told him that it was not Cristina's.

He couldn't believe how much has changed in just one single night.

**Comments and reviews are very welcome and very much appreciated! : ) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I'm back! : ) It has been a busy couple of months indeed…. During this past 2 months, I…sat for my final exam and finally graduated with a medical degree! Soon I'm going to be one of those clueless interns, lol. **

**Anyways, enjoy this next chapter! **

**Meredith**

The blinding sunlight shining through the windows of her room forces her to open her eyes. She takes a few minutes to get accustomed to the sunlight, as she could count with her fingers the number of days she wakes up after sunrise. The room is quiet, suddenly too quiet for her liking. She turns to the other side of the bed, and finds it empty. She thinks for a moment that Derek has gone to the hospital, before she remembers that ….Derek is not even home. And that it is Cristina who has gone….to the hospital hopefully. Suddenly she remembers Zola whom she had just brought home yesterday. She thinks that Zola must be fast asleep in her crib, but she wants to check just to be sure. She tries to get out of bed, but she just feels so tired, drained and worn out. She felt like her entire soul has been drained out of her, and like she has not slept a wink in days. She slowly stands up when suddenly she feels the ceiling spinning around her. She sits down at the edge of the bed, attributing her sudden onset of dizziness to postural hypertension. Suddenly, without warning, a wave of nausea runs through her and she finds herself dashing as fast as she can to the bathroom and reaching the toilet bowl just in time to empty her guts contents out. It's that moment that she suddenly remembers what is causing her current predicament of early morning nausea and vomiting. She just feels like digging a hole and burying herself into it. She just can't face all this right now, not by herself. She is at loss of what to do with herself.

Suddenly, she feels a strong hand reach out to pull her hair, which has been getting in the way, back. The hand that feels so familiar, the same hand that has held her through thick and thin before this, the hand which felt her up almost every night. She is almost afraid to turn back, for fear that it would turn out to be someone else instead, or even worse, a hallucination.

She finally sits down on the stone cold floor of the bathroom, totally worn out, when she feels like she has nothing else to throw up anymore.

' Feel better now?' a very familiar and comforting voice asked her quietly.

She finally gathers the courage to turn around to face him.

' What do you think Derek? I feel like crap! You went back on our post-it...you freakin' left me alone with Zola last night? Do you know that I called you a hundred times, but you refused to answer? That I had to bring Zola back and learn from scratch all by myself how to be a parent in just one night? So yeah, I feel like crap. Now please excuse me while I throw up again'

And throw up again she does, as Derek again dutifully pulls her hair back.

When she is done, Derek carries her back to their bed.

'Get some rest while I make you something'. He then disappears down the stairs.

Lying on her bed, she somehow senses something in his voice- something cold and distant, although she can't really quite point it out. He is being polite and kind to her, but she somehow feels like it is some sort of obligation on his part.

Tears begin rolling down her face. She knows that she has to talk to him soon, and sort things out. But right now she is just too tired and exhausted. And where is Zola?

And she drifts off into sleep…..

**Derek**

In the kitchen back in Ellis Grey's mansion, he suddenly feels like he doesn't belong there anymore, although he has been treating it like his home for the past few years. He slowly and solemnly slices the ginger needed to make the ginger ale for Meredith. He places a few crackers on a plate.

All this while trying to think about what exactly went wrong . Sure, Meredith did a wrong thing, and he is still mad at her for ruining his entire Alzheimer's trial. Why would she do such a thing- why on earth would she go ahead and ruin the very trial which was supposed to give her hope for the future, the trial which could have served as a prophylaxis for her against the disease in the future? Now, she very well could have destroyed the only hope she had to ever prevent her from getting Alzheimer's. She would then contract the disease at a young age, and slowly fade away, leaving him to be alone and die a lonely guy.

He seethes inside again, thinking about this. He really needs to talk to her, to know what exactly is going through her mind when she tampered with the trial.

He brings the crackers and ginger ale up to the room, and his heart immediately melts when he sees her fast asleep….emitting soft snores. She has always looked adorable when sleeping, and today is no exception. He smiles to himself as he places the food on the dressing table, and looks at her again. He knows it is crazy as it has only been one night,but he could swear that she has this pregnancy glow in her, causing her body to already show some changes to accommodate their barely conceived child.

His eyes travel to the crib, where Zola, who is newly fed and changed is now sleeping peacefully and contentedly. He makes a mental note to get her a new crib and some brand new diapers and clothes. Even if he is mad with Meredith, he can't be mad with this adorable little girl who is so innocent and so full of life. And he can't be mad at the new life that he and Meredith had just created together. That would be so unfair to them indeed. He wants to climb back to bed with Meredith, but he doesn't want to wake her. So he sits beside Zola's crib and nods off, also exhausted.

**Cristina**

She had awoken early in the day after just a few hours of sleep. After nursing her daily morning sickness and forcing a few salty crackers down, she was on her way to the hospital. Her whole body ached and screamed for more sleep, but she just had to go to the hospital. The hospital is the place where she feels at home, where she cheers herself up, where she feels most like herself. She feels alive and refreshed in the hospital. This is the only place where her mind can be distracted with other things instead of her current domestic squabble. She is dying to hold a scalpel and cut, anything to take her mind off Owen.

But alas, what luck she has when she is assigned by Bailey to Owen's service today! Like her brave and strong self- she decides to suck it up and just face him. Besides, she can act professional right? She is confident that she…that they both can separate work from personal life.

But how wrong she is! First thing, he admonishes her when she forgot where the safety triangle is while attempting to insert a chest tube into a patient with pneumothorax.

'Dr. Yang! You've been doing this for years now! What is wrong with you?'

'Well, what is wrong with me is YOU' she answers to herself.

He gives her the silent treatment as they scrub in together for surgery of a young man who had a ruptured spleen from an accident. When the surgery begins, he treats her no different from the scrub nurse.

'Dr. Yang, can you pass me the scalpel please? (This was supposed to be the scrub nurses job).

'Dr. Yang, can you please hold the retractors for me?'

'Dr. Yang, can you pack the abdomen with gauze for me?'

At the end of the surgery, she feels like she has had enough. She tears off her face mask and scrub cap and rushes off to search for an empty on call room.

Unfortunately, the on call rooms and the supply rooms were all occupied as usual.

She barely makes it to a patient's room, and closes the door behind her, thinking that it is empty. And the tears begin flowing out freely. She is Cristina Yang, she is tough as nails and she doesn't cry. But today, she just couldn't take it anymore. She just can't stand her husband giving her the cold shoulder. All just for one barely formed fetus, what is the whole point?

'Errmm…..hello there….are you okay?' a soft voice asks quietly.

She nearly jumps out of her skin in shock. The room is occupied after all. She turns around to see a young woman lying in bed looking at her, face full of concern.

'Oh….I'm sorry I didn't see you….really' she replies, feeling embarrassed with herself now.

The young woman smiles.

'It's ok really. I've been there. You can just spill it out to me, I promise I'll keep my lips sealed. And I wouldn't judge you on a single thing, I promise. I know sometimes we just need someone to talk and vent to.'

And for the first time in her medical career, Cristina finds herself opening up to a patient she barely even knew.

' I had a quarrel with my husband. A very big quarrel, he…kicked me out of the house..'

'Oh my…that is terrible! Where are you staying now? Please don't tell me you are homeless…'

'No, I am staying with my friend who is also a doctor in this hospital.'

' Ok….I'm just glad to know that you at least have a place to stay…although I think your husband must be one kind of a husband to kick you out like that…..'

'I think I deserve it' Cristina replies solemnly.

The reply surprises her. 'You know, I also always tend to think that it's my fault. That is all entirely my fault that I keep on miscarrying all my babies. Until now I still don't know what is wrong with me , what is wrong with my body. My Gynaecologist has ruled out all the possible causes- my blood tests for antiphospholipid syndrome came back negative, I am not diabetic or hypertensive…. I have no family history of any chromosomal abnormalities…I do not have cervical incompetence. But my body just seems to reject any fetus growing in it. 4 consecutive times! But you know what, I'm not giving up. I just know that I'm going to have a happy healthy baby one day. You just have to be thankful for everything you've got.'

Cristina didn't know how to reply. She excuses herself out of the room, and passes through the Paediatrics floor and a dozen of children on the way to the O&G floor. She just couldn't take it anymore. She stops in front of the Gynae clinic where she had made her appointment earlier. After some time, she gathers the courage to walk up to the counter, where a nurse was smiling at her.

'Yes Dr. what can I do for you?'

' I want to cancel my appointment'

**Thoughts? Comments? Reviews and comments are very much appreciated : )**


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